EMPTINESS
2 Peter 1:8-9
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
barren -These adjectives describe what contains nothing and inferentially lacks what it could or should have.
EMPTINESS SUCCEEDS SIN.
Emptiness is what was left in the heart and soul of Adam and Eve after they sinned against God in the garden. The place where God once occupied every part of their existence was now filled with emptiness and void. Thus placing them in a vulnerable position.
Now Satan could offer every attraction imaginable, leaving no room for God.
Where man was once full with God, now there’s a void that he seeks to filled, to bring happiness, stability, and comfort to his life. But it’s an endless and unfruitful journey.
Only Christ can fill the void.
Sad but true, Christ is having to share space with baggage that some people bring into their Christian life.
Recognizing their dilemma, they make efforts to quit their sin only to become discouraged because they find themselves going back to it.
Did you know that the word quit is found 6 times in the Bible, but in every instance, the usage it is never defined as to stop doing something?
Quit- To conduct (oneself) in a specified way: Quit yourselves like adults.
However there are some words that Christ will use to direct someone to experience victory over their sins.
Matt 16:25-26
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
When you lose your life, you lose the desire for the old baggage, such as (Do I need to start naming sins?) I don’t think so.
You can’t quit your sin within yourself, but Christ can help you lose the desire for it forever, and will forgive you for it.
Matt 16:24-25
24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
I’m talking about filling the emptiness in your life.
Deny himself the opportunity to sin.--sin is so much fun--it’s destructive.
Taking up the cross is not only excepting the suffering aspect of Christianity, it is also receiving every benefit as well.
It precedes life.
John 10:10
I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Phil 1:11-12
11 Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
When the Temple is empty, there is no life, but when it is full of life it is bursting at the seams.
Let God fill your empty heart full of His love and life this morning.
